The Replacement
by Nicole Santos
Summary: ONESHOT He needed to find a replacement when a tragic accident took him from the woman he loved. PrePlum story about the connection between Ranger and Steph.


Disclaimer – All characters belong to the lucky JE and I am not making any money.

PrePlum story that explains the 'connection' Steph and Ranger share.  
Cole

* * *

**The Replacement  
**

I've watched over this one-of-a kind woman for the past eleven years. I've seen her stand strong and proud at her most destitute. She has carried herself through so many situations in which most wouldn't be able to survive once let alone the countless times she stood against adversity. This woman was as independent as they come. She's head strong to the point of wanting to just pick her up and shake her sometimes. She drives men and woman crazy. Some with love. Others with interest. And not the least of which with need.

Need to be around her.

Need to help her.

Need to love her.

* * *

_"Why did you leave me?" She asked, nearly in tears again. I watched her blink her eyes rapidly, trying so hard to be strong and keep them back._

_"You know I didn't want to Babygirl," I said reaching out, tucking a loose curl behind her ear. Her mass of frizz was crazier than usual tonight. Bed hair at its best._

_"I don't know anything anymore." She glared at me. Tried to anyways._

_Even in my wildest dreams Stephanie Plum was the most beautiful woman I could and would ever meet. The best part about her was that she didn't even realize how very special she was. Her wide blue eyes were captivating. Her personality so flawed it was almost perfect. He body was made to be looked at. Even when she couldn't button her jeans._

_Stephanie Plum was meant for me._

_I watched her struggle, wrapping her arms tight around herself, as she tried so desperately not to embrace me._

_Willful as always._

_With a small smile I took the last few steps that separated us and pulled her flush against me. My arms wrapped around her, locking so tightly that she couldn't move her own to beat against my chest as I knew she wanted to do._

_We became a beautiful mess. There was crying, yelling, biting, wriggling, and cursing the high heavens. What she did or said didn't matter to me. She was in my arms again._

_I was at peace._

_I continued to hold her, sinking down to the ground together softly when her knees gave way. Loud bitter sobs took over her body. They shook her hard against me. Her screams of anger and pain studded my heart anew with holes. It broke piece by piece with every tear that fell down her cheeks._

_When the worst was over, I began humming randomly as she took back control over her body. The tears slowed, though never stopped completely, and hiccups became few and far between._

_Reluctantly I loosened my hold on her. She pulled back slightly and just looked at me. Her eyes were red and swollen, nose and cheeks flushed from the fresh tears._

_Beautiful._

_So absolutely beautiful._

_"I look like shit," she said wiping her eyes clear._

_A grin worked its way up my lips. "Still a mind reader I see."_

_"Only cause your face tell me everything."_

_"And what is it telling you now Babygirl?"_

_She stared at me critically. "Well," the beautiful one began, "you're thinking about kissing me. And," she continued, swallowing hard to keep her cries back, "that you were the biggest idiot ever for getting on that damn plane."_

_My smile turned sad. I leaned forward and brushed my lips across hers once. "Right on both accounts as usually Babygirl," I whispered against hers._

_I was nearly thrown back when Stephanie threw her arms around me, pressing her body flat against mine and began attacking my lips. It only took me a second to get my wits back together. Forcefully I ran my tongue over her soft lips until she opened them for me. Our tongues collided, each struggling to dominate the other._

_Blood boiled, hands roamed, voices cried out as clothes were ripped away baring our bodies and hearts to each other once more._

_Afterwards Stephanie lay on her stomach next to me, simply enjoying feeling my hand run along her back. I was propped on my right side next to her, afraid that if I stopped touching her this would all disappear._

_"So," we both began at the same time. We laughed and Stephanie moved her head to rest on my chest._

_"Go ahead," I said._

_She traced a scar on my chest from a surgery I had when I was a child. It was a long moment before she spoke. "What happens now?"_

_I couldn't stop the sigh from escaping my lips. She always went right in for the kill._

_"Well," I said sitting us both up, moving her back against my front and wrapping my legs around hers. "I am going to go back to watching over you and you, my beautiful Tasmanian Devil, are going to wake up and move on."_

_Her body completely stilled against me. "Impossible," she whispered._

_I buried my head in her hair and smiled. "No its not. You're going to find someone to love again. You'll forget about me and live with him in crazy happiness."_

_Stephanie's body began to shake against mine. I didn't need to see her face to know she was crying again, though she made no sound. "How can you say that?"_

_"Because," I said simply, "I've already seen him."_

_Her head whipped around so fast I was lucky she didn't break my nose. "What?" She screeched._

_I bit my tongue so I wouldn't smile. "I've already seen him Babygirl. He's going to be everything you need."_

_"What I _need_? What I _need_!" Her voice rose with each syllable. Even though I saw it coming I didn't move. Her hand flew through the air and hit me square on my face. "You selfish bastard!" Stephanie stood up angrily and began putting her clothes back on, nearly tearing them with her jerky movements. "What I need is for you to have never gotten on that stupid plane! What I need is to have you next to me in life and not in some stupid dream! What I _need _is you!"_

_With that she stormed off, walking away from me into the endless night._

_I shook my head and smiled._

God I've miss her.

_Catching up to Steph, I heard her muttering to herself about how stupid men were. She wasn't watching where she was going as usual._

_I grinned again quickly before she saw it, then moved directly in front of her. She ran right into me as planned. I reached out and steadied her._

_She glared at me and smacked my hands away. "Don't touch me." Steph turned her back to me and continued to walk._

_"Ok," I said calmly. "Guess this means I can go then."_

_Her next step was hesitant."I don't care," she whispered._

_"Come on Babygirl," I held out my hand for her to take. She didn't take another step forward but she didn't turn around either. "Please?"_

_Steph slowly turned towards me. She was biting her lip. A few tears streaked down her cheeks._

_I waited patiently for her to make up her mind. The battle of being right versus touching me once again._

_Tentatively, she began the walk back to where I stood. When she didn't take my hand, though she was more than close enough to, I slowly brought it back to my side._

_"Can I explain?" She looked away but nodded. "Will you look at me?" She shook her head and kept her eyes averted. "Ok," I began. "Stephanie, you know how much I love you," I waited for her to nod again to continue, "and all I want in this world is for you to be happy."_

_"You make me happy," she said quietly._

_My smile was hardly a happy one. "I know Babygirl but I can't be there to make you happy anymore. You're not going to be able to see me like this anymore."_

_Her head shot up. I saw a steady stream of tears running down her face before she looked down at the ground again. "Why?" she asked as if I was taking away her piece of cake._

_"Because you need to move on."_

_Her head shook venomously. "No I don't. I only needed you. No one else is like you."_

_"That's the point Baby. Right now you don't need someone like me. You need someone better."_

_She actually snorted. "No one is better than you," she looked up finally and held my eyes. "You're the only one who's ever understood me."_

_Using the pad of my thumb, I wiped her cheeks lightly. "There will be others. They'll realize how special you are. They won't try to make you change."_

_"They," she sniffed. Surprisingly Steph reached out and held one of my hands tight in hers._

_I smiled softly. "They. You'll see."_

_"You know I'm not good at waiting."_

_"No shit Babygirl." I laughed and she managed to crack a smile._

_"So," she said shaking her head slightly. "Who is this supposedly amazing guy?"_

_I hesitated. I didn't want to answer directly but I did want to warn her. "He's not like me." Her eyes shot up with that one. "I mean when you meet him, he won't be like me. You'll need to give him some time. Be patient with him."_

_"Because I'm so good at that."_

_I leaned forward and kiss her forehead. "He'll be everything you need him to be. And you will help him with his own problems. You two will just need to trust in that."_

_She nodded, completely dismissing everything I just said._

_I rolled my eyes. I swear . . ._

_We were quiet for a few minutes then the Stephanie Plum I fell in love with started coming back. "So," she said, trying to keep a straight face, "is he hot?"_

_I had to bite my tongue again. "Well," I said using my free hand to dust my shoulders, "he's no me but I guess he's not disfigured either."_

_A true smile broke out on her face making my heart skip a beat._

_"Am I going to know him?"_

_Lightly I ran my fingers up the back of her neck. I grinned when she shivered. "You'll know him."_

_This time when I pulled her into my arms, she greedily wrapped her arms around me. I kissed her neck softly. "Gonna have to go Babygirl."_

_"Not yet," she whispered into my chest. "A few more minutes."_

_I closed my eyes and breathed in her scent. The tears I felt against my chest weren't the only ones being shed at that moment. I didn't even try to stop them as they fell silently down my cheeks, getting lost in her riot of curls._

_"A few more minutes," I whispered back._

_Just a few more minutes._

* * *

I've watched over this one-of-a kind woman for the past eleven years.

Eight of those years have been from up above.

Now for the first time since we last held each other, I knew I didn't have to worry about her. She was finally on her way to happiness.

I smiled when she got out of her crappy car and walked with her head held high into the little café Connie told her he would be waiting.

I stood and stretched. Bones popped, muscles relaxed, and my heart didn't hurt quite as much.

My replacement had finally arrived.


End file.
